Communities across the region are taking part in cleanups, fundraisers, and other events throughout the week in observance of Earth Day, which fell on Monday, as well as Earth Month.
In Saugus, during a rainy Park Serve Day, an event put on by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), residents still showed up to help tend to Breakheart Reservation.
Park Serve Day, which started in 2006, is a statewide “day of stewardship,” according to the DCR’s website. Volunteers are encouraged and invited to visit their local parks to aid in preparing them for the warmer spring and summer months ahead.
Volunteer and Friends of Breakheart Reservation Becky Anderson said that they tend to get more people to volunteer on non-rainy days.
“The events here tend to draw out a lot of people,” Anderson said.
Chair of The Friends of Breakheart Reservation Peter Rossetti Jr. said that “everyone always describes Breakheart as a ‘diamond in the rough,’” adding that “a lot of people in Saugus don’t even know it’s here.”
Anderson echoed the same sentiment.
“A lot of people don’t realize the beauty that’s in the park,” Anderson said.
Breakheart Park Supervisor Brett Power said that the more people care about a place, the more they want to steward a place.
“A lot of people just focus on the recreation, they come here and this is just something that they use for their own fun,” Power said. “This is a chance to get people involved, and to get more into a conservation mindset.”
Rossetti said that The Friends of Breakheart assists DCR with running programs at the park, and that the events that the organization puts on helps to raise funds for the park. Rossetti pointed over to a stack of wooden slats and 2x4s and said “we’re going to be building a new visitor’s center, educational center.”
Rossetti explained that previously, it used to be the “sugar shack,” where school children could become familiar with the process of maple sugaring and all that comes with it.
“The plan is to build an education center that can be used for more than just the maple sugaring program,” Rossetti said.
In addition to a new education center, there are additional plans to turn the atrium of the park into a more of a “public forum area,” as well as a new “sugar shack” which is in talks to be built with help from the students at Northeast Regional Metropolitan Technical Vocational High School (frequently referred to as The Voke).
State Representative Donald Wong commended the work of the staff at Breakheart, and said that it’s great to see people volunteering.
“You can bring your family, it doesn’t cost anything,” he said. “You know, you go to a ball game now, you can’t afford to bring a family of four. You come here, you can walk the trail, you can play in the playground, they have a lake here. It’s a family reunion place, not just family, but friends.”
Despite lower than normal turnout due to the rain, roughly 20 or so volunteers, both individuals and those associated with The Friends of Breakheart Reservation still showed up to help clean up the park that they seem to care so much about.
“I’m grateful for the people that came,” Wong said.
Rossetti also expressed similar sentiments, saying that “the turnout is surprising considering the weather, but it goes to show that there’s a hardcore group of people who are willing to come in this kind of weather to preserve the place.”
Elsewhere, cleanups put on by SPUR took place in Lynn, Marblehead, and Swampscott over the weekend at local beaches and parks. Despite the gloomy weather, more than 250 volunteers across the communities helped pick up litter at 32 parks and beaches in Beverly, Lynn, Marblehead, Salem, and Swampscott.
“A little rain couldn’t stop SPUR volunteers from celebrating your home planet on Earth Day!” read a post on the SPUR Facebook page. “Thank you to everyone who came out to go green and help SPUR clean!”
At Devereux Beach in Marblehead, dozens of joggers came out to participate in an Earth Day 5k, put on by the High School’s National Green School Society. Profits from the race were split between supporting the club and donating to environmental organizations.
The events will continue throughout this week. In Lynn, an Earth Month tree planting will take place at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at Flax Pond. Those interested in attending can join the City of Lynn to plant two trees around the pond.
Later on Tuesday the city will also hold an event called Get Green on the Common: Earth Month Celebration. The event will begin at 3 p.m. on the Lynn Common, near the Frederick Douglass Bandstand and will include trivia, lawn games, music, city service demonstrations, photos with Earth, and more.
The Peabody Essex Museum is also hosting an event called Our Time on Earth Climate Activations: Be the Change, on April 27 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Our Time on Earth, Gallery 201, “Be the Change” zone, where attendees can converse with climate advocates, researchers, and community leaders on local and regional efforts to address climate change. There are other Saturdays, such as in May 4, May 11, and June 1, where the same event will be held but with different speakers.
The main Peabody library at 82 Main St. will also host a few activities for Earth Day on Monday, April 22 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the second floor tech lab. Kids and teens can make seed bombs, paint ceramic pots, plant seeds, and more. Registration is required to participate in the activity.
In Swampscott, the town will be holding its third annual Earth Fest on Saturday, April 27 on the Town Hall Lawn from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attendees at the event can buy a used bike, get a free American Hornbeam tree, meet intertidal animals and more.
